UNC heads to Omaha again after walk-off vs USC

UNC’s 13th – North Carolina returns to Omaha for its 13th Men’s College World Series trip, led by head coach Scott Forbes as the first in program history to reach Omaha twice in his first six seasons. Its primetime opener Friday, June 12 against Ole Miss marks the programs

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The call to Omaha doesn’t come quietly for the Tar Heels.

After a season that has again relied on pitching down to the last innings. North Carolina is set to return to the Men’s College World Series for its 13th trip. Head coach Scott Forbes is already holding the kind of résumé few coaches in the program’s history have matched: he is the first to earn a CWS berth twice in his first six seasons. and UNC has gone nine times with him on staff.

For Carolina, it’s also a continuation of a recent run that stands out even in a sport defined by parity. Carolina is the only team to have made it to Omaha twice in the last three years, and it was one win away from going in 2025.

That momentum now points to Friday’s primetime showdown with Ole Miss — the first meeting between the programs in 57 years. The two teams have only faced each other in the NCAA Tournament, with Ole Miss claiming all four games across the District III rounds in 1964 and 1969.

Game 1 is set for Friday, June 12, with ESPN handling the broadcast and Live Stats available.

No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels will come in with a 50-12-1 overall record and a 22-8 ACC mark. Scott Forbes leads the program, and his record at UNC is 250-116-1. Against Ole Miss, UNC is 0-0.

Ole Miss enters at 41-21 overall and 15-15 in the SEC. Head coach Mike Bianco leads the Rebels, who hold a 990-585-1 record at Ole Miss. The Rebels are also 0-0 against UNC.

The projected pitching matchup is RHP Jason DeCaro for North Carolina versus RHP Taylor Rabe for Ole Miss.

The history between the programs points to an uneven ledger: Ole Miss has won 4-0 all-time, with a current streak of L4. UNC has gone 0-0 at Chapel Hill, 0-0 away, and 0-4 at neutral sites. Their first meeting came on May 28, 1964.

In Omaha, where the Heels have built long-running habits, the numbers tell the story of experience. All-time, UNC holds a 19-25 record in Omaha and has reached the championship series twice, in 2006 and 2007.

The team’s 2007 run began with an 8-5 win over Mississippi State after winning a three-game Super against USC (South Carolina) and sweeping a regional that included East Carolina.

Still, the CWS openings haven’t always been smooth. Carolina is 5-7 in its CWS opening games and holds a 4-5 record against members of the Southeastern Conference in its 12 previous Omaha appearances.

The players carrying this trip are familiar to recent UNC baseball. The team is led by four Heels who played in the 2024 trip to the CWS: Gavin Gallaher, Jason DeCaro, Matthew Matthijs, and Cam Padgett. Five more players were on the roster in 2024 but did not take the field.

What brought UNC back to this stage again wasn’t luck—it was a specific kind of late-season belief, built on young arms and an ability to keep finding ways when the offense stalled.

That show began in the Chapel Hill Super Regional, the one that ended with UNC’s walk-off to go to Omaha.

DeCaro made sure the Heels saw Sunday, but more heroics were required to send them to Omaha.

True freshman phenom Caden Glauber got the ball for his third-ever start. He led the way by setting new career highs in innings pitched (7.1) and strikeouts (11), while holding USC to three runs on six hits and one walk.

Limiting the Trojans mattered, because Carolina’s offense struggled to get going at the wrong time. In the game, USC took control by jumping ahead 3-1 in the fourth and fifth, including solo shots in both innings. The Heels produced only five hits in the first seven innings.

Carolina did pull even early again, though. A third inning Owen Hull double — one of Hull’s four hits that day — tied the game up at 1-1.

Then came the eighth, when Carolina finally strung things together. After two-out Owen Hull double followed by another two-bagger from Macon Winslow, the deficit was cut to one.

Fresh arms kept the pressure on. Jackson Rose, another freshman, and Walker McDuffie, a sophomore, combined for 1.2 shutout innings from the pen to maintain striking distance.

And in the bottom of the ninth, the dream scenario arrived—five straight simply clutch at-bats from Tar Heels delivered the drama in the Chapel Hill Super Regional.

First, Cooper Nicholson drew a walk on an eight pitch at-bat after going down 0-2 quickly.

Next. it was the defensive sub Carter French — a former walk-on whose K was the last out of the 2025 heart breaking Super loss to Arizona. French drew three straight balls, including a mid-AB pitching change. With an unforgettably calm demeanor as he chatted with Coach Forbes before stepping back up to the plate. he knocked a single through the right side that would send Nicholson to third.

Jake Schaffner followed with a sac-fly to tie the game at 3-3 and send the Bosh into a fever pitch.

Finally, Owen Hull delivered again. USC couldn’t come up with a pop up foul, and Hull took advantage of the extra life with yet another two-out double just past the sliding Trojan center fielder to score French and send North Carolina back to Omaha.

The walk-off didn’t just end a series; it reinforced what UNC has leaned on all season—their pitching staff, their Arm Barn.

Carolina has led the ACC in ERA each of the last two seasons, and 2026 has followed that script. The Heels are looking to be the first to go three in a row since Louisville’s five-year stretch from 2015-19. It would also be the first time in UNC history it had the best ACC ERA three years in a row.

Last year, Jake Knapp led the ACC in ERA in 2025, after being named the ACC and National Pitcher of the Year. In 2026, Tar Heels currently occupy the No. 1, 2, and 10 spots in the conference ERA rankings, as Glauber, DeCaro, and McDuffie battle at the top.

UNC is aiming for a run with rare company. It would be the first time UNC pitchers have gone back-to-back years atop the conference since Robert Woodard and Jonathan Hovis did it in 2005/06.

At least one of the dynamic duo of Glauber and McDuffie has appeared in 11 of the last 12 games for Carolina down the stretch run. The Heels also currently have four arms in the top-15 in ERA in the ACC, while no other team has more than two.

DeCaro and Glauber are both over the 10-win mark, giving Carolina its first pair of teammates to hit double digits since Trent Thornton and Kent Emanuel had 12 and 11, respectively, in 2013.

Among all the arms, Glauber’s story has become its own kind of headline.

Glauber, a true freshman nicknamed “Globe” by his teammates, quickly emerged as a go-to arm for Forbes and company this season.

Barely 18 years old, he skipped his senior prom to come to Chapel Hill early. From there, he went from unknown to the ACC Freshman of the Year, powered by elite velocity and a propensity to get out of sticky situations.

Forbes has described him as a “future Friday guy” and “basically a starter waiting in the pen whenever we need him,” often comparing him to Tar Heel legend and current big leaguer Trent Thornton.

His strikeouts (99) and record (10-0) lead all NCAA freshmen. He sits second in ERA (2.20) and third in opposing batting average (.180). He is best among ACC rookies in all four categories.

With a 10-0 record currently, he is the most wins without defeat by a Carolina freshman this century, and UNC is 25-0 in his appearances.

UNC has also shown it trusts young arms beyond Glauber. Jason DeCaro graduated high school early.

DeCaro’s heroics in Carolina’s 14-inning marathon win at Clemson earned him the team’s only ACC Player of the Week honor in 2026. He entered a tie game on the road in the bottom of the ninth and pitched all the way through the final out of the 14th to help the Heels even the series. He threw a phenomenal 6.0 shutout innings with six strikeouts and five hits.

Now UNC’s pitching staff, led by Glauber and DeCaro, gets to carry that same late-season rhythm into Omaha—where they’ve already built a legacy, and where the next chapter begins Friday night against Ole Miss.

North Carolina Tar Heels College World Series Omaha Ole Miss Scott Forbes Caden Glauber Jason DeCaro Carter French Owen Hull Chapel Hill Super Regional